Trying to adapt Apocalypse World/Dungeon World to handle Eclipse Phase

So, as a bit of a project, I’m going to chip away at trying to hack Dungeon World/Apocalypse World to run Eclipse Phase. Will it work? Well, it could. I have no doubt that someone could make a really neat game out of this. The problem, of course, is that I am not sure I am that person, but I am going to try. I’m still in the early phases, obviously, and spending a lot of time reading through the rather daunting main rulebook for Eclipse Phase. Still, I’ve started to put some thought into what sort of things from Eclipse Phase would need to be modeled in a * World game in order to still have it feel like Eclipse Phase. That’s the goal, after all. The issue, I think, is that Eclipse Phase is sweeping in its scope. The world is massive and the amount of details in just the main rulebook (much less all of the additional supplements) are legion. This means that the first step is identifying the stuff that, at its core, needs to be modeled by mechanics to make it feel like Eclipse Phase. This is my first draft of the stuff I’ve got in mind:

Egos vs. Morphs – This is, perhaps, the most importantly. My current thinking is to have your Ego and Morph have their own playbook. Your Ego playbook does not change, your Morph playbook does. The number of moves you get from your Morph playbook is based off of your Ego’s current level.

Attributes – I originally considered keeping the names of the seven Eclipse Phase attributes so that it would still ‘look’ more like Eclipse Phase but, after considering it, I think it might be cleaner to go the Apocalypse World route of more evocative attribute names that each cover a couple of moves. Otherwise I think we have too much information to juggle for very little gain.

Identity – It will be important to maintain the concept of ‘identities’ and the masking thereof. It will likely just be through a ‘Create an Identity’ move, but I really think it needs to be in there.

Social Networks – Again, probably a move related to your Mesh skill, but I love the idea of a move with a list of five questions you can ask your social network (or maybe just allowing it to answer any one question you have on a success).

Rep – I initially considered handling Rep like Hx, with a number for each of the seven factions, but that seems like too much bookkeeping for a *World game. Instead, I think that Rep should just be handled either through the fiction or through a series of ‘Bonds’ similar to those found in Dungeon World.

Psi Traits – This one seems easy enough. You just have a playbook with access to Psi moves. No problem there, I think.

Cred – Not sure how I want to handle money yet. I mean, it seems like there should be some way to buy things in an Eclipse Phase-style game, but I don’t really want to make players get down to actually counting Creds, although I suppose it might go that way (plus, then you could just use the costs listed in the main book, which is a huge plus). Still mulling this one over.

So, that’s where I am right now. Will it ever get finished? Who knows, but I’m going to give it a try. The first thing I have to do is to really dig in and read the Eclipse Phase book all the way through and thoroughly enough to really identify what makes that world tick. Once I do that, then I’ll be able to get to work in earnest on creating playbooks, moves, attributes, and the like. Got some ideas of your own? I’d love to hear them.

About Michael

Michael is an enthusiast about a lot of things, including indie games, roleplaying games, board games, and comic books that wanted to help create a place where he could bring things to the attention of those with similar interests. Futile Position is a true labor of labor, which he hopes continues to grow through the support of the great readers who have come upon this page.

One Comment

Don’t forget horror! Mental harm, persisting from morph to morph. And the resleeving process with a morph definitely needs a move – one that can inflict mental harm if it goes poorly, or at least cause some -1 forwards.

Eclipse Phase is the only game I’ve read where body-horror has a mechanic.